Try scraping the paint off. I just did this on an old Windsor frame. I used one of those knifes you find at the check out counter of the hardware store with the blade that slides out of the handle and has places you can break the blade off to get a sharp end. Some bikes have very thick hard paint but with the Windsor I was able to get 80 percent of the paint off with the blade in a couple hours. Then I used a palm sander with 80 grit paper to get most of the rest off. The only place this doesn't work is the lugs. There you might have to use stripper and a scotch brite pad. I have a small home sand blaster that I use on the lugs.